Clang! Clang! Clang!

Ray's metallified fists, coated in Azure Winds, met each of its strikes head on, not letting a single one pass through to land on his body. Sparks and shockwaves exploded with every collision. The room quaked. The white walls and the ceiling cracked. Dust rained down from above.

Both figures moved like blurs. The Ratman Swordsman's tail lashed, forcing Ray to duck low. Next, its blade carved gouges in the floor, barely missing him by inches.

Ray gritted his teeth. His stamina was draining, his arms trembling from the repeated impacts. He knew he couldn't drag this out.

He dodged a wild sword slash by jumping into the air, then brought his fists down like a hammer on its head.

Boom!

The Ratman Swordsman was smashed into the ground, the floor caving under the impact. But even pinned, it screeched and swung upward, its blade slicing across Ray's shoulder and nearly tearing through him. Blood splattered.

"Tch—!" Ray staggered, clutching his wound.

The Ratman Swordsman, battered and bleeding, forced itself back to its feet. Its body trembled, its breaths ragged, but its eyes glowed with unyielding bloodlust.

Ray steadied his breathing, then vanished once more. His stamina dropped to a measly 2 points.

The Ratman Swordsman's ears twitched. It anticipated the direction he would attack from just by picking up the wind raised by his attack. Its sword whipped sideways.

Clang!

Ray appeared at its flank, parrying with his fist. Sparks sprayed between them, and for a moment they were locked, teeth bared, muscles straining.

"You are… prey!" the Ratman Swordsman roared, spitting blood into his face.

Ray's eyes burned cold.

"No. You are."

He twisted his fist, a volley of Azure Winds exploding outward, breaking the lock. As it was busy striking them down one by one, he rushed up to it. It swung its sword down to cut him apart, but he moved like a slippery eel in water, slipping past its sword and circling behind it. His eyes glowed green. A death sentence bloomed out of his palm.

Shhhk! An Azure blade pierced straight through the Ratman Swordsman's chest, exiting from its chest.

The Ratman Swordsman froze. Its sword slipped from its hands, clattering to the floor.

It turned its head slowly, disbelief filling its bloodshot eyes. The purple glow around its body flickered and died.

Ray yanked his sword free. The Ratman Swordsman staggered forward two steps, choking on blood, then collapsed with a heavy thud that echoed through the room.

After that, only silence remained.

The silence was broken by a notification.

♦️ You have killed your opponent.

♦️ You have gained +5000 Enlightenment Points.

♦️ Please get ready to fight your next opponent.

Soon, Ray came across a dark elf who made a pleasant proposal as soon as she saw him.

"Let's not fight. Let's wait until the timer runs out so we can both advance to the next sector. Okay?"

Ray's eyes twitched, hearing her words.

"I am not stupid. Why do you think I would believe the words coming out of your mouth? You are a Dark Elf, for god's sake. Your kind is known for spewing lies whenever they open their mouths."

Tch. The dark elf clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction. She was dissatisfied because Ray didn't fall for her trick.

She immediately attacked him.

Ray barely managed to parry the dark elf's blow, but the strength behind the attack was so overwhelming that his hands started to ache.

The dark elf pressed her advantage, attacking again and again.

Ray parried each of her blows, but at the cost of feeling increasingly numb in his hands and finding himself being pushed back toward the wall where he could be cornered like a rat trapped in a cage.

"For a human, you're quite good at parrying," the dark elf sneered. "But just that won't help you survive against me for long. You're going to die here while I will gain the most from this trial and go on to become stronger."

"Don't count your eggs before they hatch!" Ray retorted, striking back with his fists. This time he was on the offensive. Every few seconds, he released several attacks. But his efforts were in vain as the dark elf dodged every single one of his attacks effortlessly.

"Even if you trained for ten years, you still wouldn't be my match. I'll defeat you in ten more moves." The dark elf grinned arrogantly.

Ray's eyes narrowed.

'Good, this arrogant girl fell for it.'

He had intentionally made himself appear weaker to the dark elf so that she would grow overconfident and overcommit. At that time, he would catch the dark elf by surprise by going all out and dealing the finishing blow.

The dark elf lunged toward him, thrusting her sword forward.

Whoosh.

The sword sliced through the air, barreling toward Ray.

'This is the moment I've been waiting for,' Ray thought as he burst out with all his speed.

In an instant, his body moved with blinding speed, faster than the dark elf could comprehend.

He dodged the incoming sword, circled behind her, and threw a punch towards the back of her head.

Just as Ray believed victory was within reach, the dark elf suddenly vanished.

The next moment, his sixth sense tingled.

He was in immense danger.

Without hesitation, Ray rolled forward, narrowly dodging a lethal strike as a blade sliced through the space where he had stood a fraction of a second ago.

Ray quickly rolled up to his feet before turning around in one fluid motion to face the dark elf.

"Your efforts are in vain. You can never defeat me!" the dark elf sneered, taking a confident stance, but she was clearly stalling. Her innate power couldn't be used twice in the same minute. She needed time before she could use it again.

Ray wasn't having any of it. "You really have a lot to say," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Too bad I have no interest in listening."

The dark elf threw out a hidden weapon as Ray rushed towards her.

A torrent of flames burst out of his mouth.

It melted the hidden weapon before enveloping the dark elf.

Argh!

The dark elf's pitiful cries were cut short as she melted away in the fire.

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